Welfare fraud case: Roseburg woman lied to government about marriage

EUGENE — A Roseburg woman who lied to the government about her marriage to get more than $300,000 in benefits has been sentenced to a year in prison.

Judith Ann Eubank, 60, is also required to reimburse the government by $333,900. She has made a $100,000 down payment that might shave a year off her sentence, the Eugene Register-Guard reported.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Helen Cooper originally planned to ask for a two-year sentence but told U.S. District Judge Ann Aiken she would support a shorter term after the payment was confirmed. Eubank pleaded guilty earlier this year. Aiken imposed the sentence Wednesday.

The family didn't get rich from the benefits and was able to make the restitution payment because Eubank's husband, Joseph Jedlicka, recently received a large payment from the Veterans Administration after winning a long fight for benefits, said Eubank's attorney, Laura Fine Moro.

Judith Eubank got married in 1998, Cooper wrote in a sentencing report. With her husband's income, she no longer met the qualifications for government aid. But she concealed the marriage and higher household income and continued collecting benefits for the next 14 years, the report said.

Over that time, Eubank received $227,540 in medical benefits from the state human services department, $96,750 in Social Security welfare benefits, $8,840 in Temporary Assistance to Needy Families payments and $770 in food stamps. The payments stopped last year when the fraud was uncovered.

On at least 13 occasions she gave false information to state or federal agencies, saying variously that her husband was just a friend, that she kept her finances separate from his and that they ate separately. Her husband was not charged.